Apple has announced that it's to settle a class action lawsuit about in-app purchases—that could have involved more than 23 million App Store users!—by bunging the affected parties free iTune credit.

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The case was brought by disgruntled parents, whose children had racked up massive bills on virtual items inside free iOS games. Apple will settle with the majority of irritated parties by offering them $5 of iTunes credit. If users can prove that purchases were made without their knowledge, though, Apple is willing to offer larger sums of credit or cash.

The case first popped up in 2011 when customers using iOS 4.3 reported massive bills, and since Apple has added more parental controls to avoid the problem. Following approval by a judge, Apple hopes to roll out the credit towards the end of 2013. Looks like it could turn out to be quite a costly mistake. [GigaOm via Verge]